Zhezkazgan
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| Zhezkazgan Жезқазған |
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  Zhezkazgan
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| Country |  Kazakhstan |
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| Province | Karagandy Province | ||
| Founded | 1938 | ||
| Government | |||
| - Akim (mayor) | Musa Tanabayev | ||
| Population (1999) | |||
| - Total | 90,000 | ||
| Time zone | BTT (UTC+6) | ||
| Postal code | 100600 | ||
| Area code(s) | +7 7102 | ||
| Website: http://www.jezkazgan.kz | |||
Zhezkazgan, also known as Zhezqazghan (Kazakh: Жезқазған - Zhezqazghan, Russian: Джезказган - Dzhezkazgan), is a city in Karagandy Province, Kazakhstan, on a reservoir of the Kara-Kengir River. It has a population of 90,000 (1999 census). Its urban area includes the neighbouring mining town of Satpayev, total population 148,700. 55% of the population are Kazakhs, 30% Russians, with smaller minorities of Ukrainians, Germans, Chechens and Koreans.
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[edit] Geography
Dzhezkazgan has an extreme continental climate. The average temperature ranges from 24°C (75°F) in July to -16°C (3°F) in January.
The Baikonur Cosmodrome lies 400 km to the south west and, by tradition, every cosmonaut plants a tree in Zhezkazgan's Sejfulin-Boulevard to mark his safe return from space.
[edit] History
The city was created in 1938 in connection with the exploitation of the rich local copper deposits. In 1973 a large mining and metallurgical complex was constructed to the southeast to smelt the copper that until then had been sent elsewhere for processing. Other metal ores mined and processed locally are manganese, iron and gold.
During the Soviet era, Dzhezkazgan was the site of a Gulag labor camp, Kengir, mentioned in Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's book, The Gulag Archipelago, and Alexander Dolgun's "An American In The Gulag".
[edit] Industry
Today the city is the headquarters of the copper conglomerate Kazakhmys, the city's main employer. The company has subsidiaries in China, Russia and the UK and is listed on the London Stock Exchange.
[edit] Transport
The city has railway station which is linked to Karagandy city and an airport.
[edit] Famous residents
Russian actor Oleg Yankovsky is the most famous of the city's natives.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
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